N-doped hollow carbon nanospheres anchored Pd NPs for mild selective hydrodeoxygenation of bio-models

Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a promising approach for the synthesis of renewable fuels and chemicals, while the design and preparation of high-performance catalysts in this field remain a challenge. Herein, a series of hollow carbon nanospheres anchored Pd nanoparticles (NPs) catalysts with different nitrogen doping contents (Pd/HCAFR-X, X=0.3, 0.6, 0.9) were prepared for the selective HDO of bio-models compound under mild conditions. Notably, the Pd/HCAFR-0.6 catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the acetophenone (APh) HDO in polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) at 50 °C for 3 h, and the yield of ethylbenzene was close to 99%. The good catalytic results can be mainly attributed to the unique hollow carbon nanospheres with abundant defects provided by appropriate nitrogen doping content. The large surface area and hierarchical porous structure of the hollow carbon framework offered more active sites, which promoted the transportation of species on the catalyst. In addition, the nitrogen doping amount can adjust the defect degree of the hollow carbon nanospheres, stabilize the dispersion and anchoring of Pd NPs, and then induce the transfer of local electrons. Furthermore, the Pd/HCAFR-0.6 catalyst showed good catalytic performance for bio-models compound HDO after 5 cycles.